Cunningham, Allan (1791-1839), a British botanist, became known for his exploration of New South Wales, Australia. New South Wales was established as a colony of the United Kingdom in 1788. Cunningham is credited with becoming the first European to see what are now known as Cunningham’s Gap, the Darling Downs, the New England Plateau, and Pandoras Pass.
In 1816, Cunningham arrived in Sydney, New South Wales. In 1817, he joined John Oxley, an English explorer, to survey the interior of the land west of the Blue Mountains. In the same year, Cunningham joined an expedition led by the Australian explorer Phillip Parker King along the north and northwest coast of Australia. By 1818, Cunningham had gathered botanical samples of around 300 plant species. He continued exploring Australia and later New Zealand.
In Australia in 1823, Cunningham became the first European to see a mountain pass that he named Pandoras Pass. The pass led through the Great Dividing Range to the Liverpool Plains, which Oxley had been the first European to see in 1818. In 1827, Cunningham became the first person from Europe to see a wide, fertile plain in present-day Queensland . Cunningham named the plain the Darling Downs, after Ralph Darling, the governor of New South Wales, who had sent him on the expedition. Today, the plain is responsible for much of Queensland’s agricultural production. In 1828, in the Great Dividing Range, Cunningham became the first European to see a pass that provided access to the Pacific coast. The pass become known as Cunningham’s Gap. Use of the pass led to the founding of Queensland. Cunningham’s Gap opened to what is now Brisbane, the current capital of Queensland. On Cunningham’s journey home, he became the first European to see the New England Plateau.
Cunningham was born on July 13, 1791, in Wimbledon, England, southwest of London. He was educated at a private school in southwest London. Cunningham began working as a clerk in the Royal Botanical Gardens at Kew in 1808. He later was appointed a botanical collector and joined an expedition to Brazil. Cunningham left London in 1814 and spent two years in South America. From South America, Cunningham was sent to New South Wales.
Cunningham returned to England in 1831 and documented his specimens and explorations. He returned to Sydney in 1837 as colonial botanist. However, one of the post’s requirements was growing vegetables for the governor. He did not agree to those duties and resigned. He died in Sydney on June 27, 1839.
